For Catholics: Indulgence definition question?

Question

Can a Catholic please explain the following: "An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven"? Is this telling me that my guilt has been forgiven, but not my punishment (albeit temporary)? I may have to clarify this question, so please come back.

Clarification: Catholics only, please. The most recent edition of the Catechism still has Indulgences (2.2.2.4.1471).

My question expands to this. Are Indulgences a means of avoiding Earthly punishment (as the Catechism says [1471]) and therefore "paid" to the church (as the Catechism says [1478]), or are they a way of explaining restitution for wrongdoings to the person you have wronged (I would need a New Testament reference since I am not Jewish - so, not Ex 22:9, Lev 6:2-5 or Num 5:5-7 - although I believe those as well). They obviously can't be both since one says pay the church and the other says pay the person you've wronged. Thanks.

Answer 1

Yeah, they did away with those a long time ago.

Answer 2

Yes - your guilt has been forgiven, but there is still a debt to be paid (in terms of being purged of your sins). To get into Heaven, one must be pure.

If I stole your car, went to court, pled guilty, and confessed with a spirit of true repentance, you might forgive me. But you'd still want your car back, and you might want the court to give me at least community service, if not some time in jail, right?

Indulgences are the Church's way of helping clear out some of that impending punishment/purification. They used to have time attached to them, until they decided that the notion of days were meaningless compared to God's reckoning of sin.

Sorry - indulgences will NOT help you in this life, only in avoiding purgatory or at least minimizing your time spent there.

If you do start working to gain indulgences, you might want to offer them up for some of the poor souls in purgatory who have no one praying for them. Although not specifically cited, I would believe this would fall under a spiritual work of mercy.

And yes, there was an abuse in the past, which was a partial cause of Martin Luther's break with the Church. However, improper practices were ended.

Answer 3

+ Purgatory +

To discuss indulgences, first we have to talk about Purgation (or Purgatory).

Are you perfect now? Most people would say no.

Will you be perfect in heaven? Most people believe yes.

Purgatory (or purgation) is the process of God's love changing our imperfect selves into perfect beings. Depending on the amount of change needed by different people this can be an easy or slightly harder process.

Everyone in purgatory is on their way to heaven. I don't think Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a very hard time of it.

+ Indulgences +

The concept is that a person can do acts of penance now on earth to make purgation easier.

Penance is internally turning one's heart toward God and away from sin in hope in divine mercy and externally by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

A corruption grew in the Church many years ago where rich people would give enough alms (money to the Church) to essentially buy an easy way to heaven. This was one of Martin Luther's protests (hence Protestants) and shortly thereafter the Catholic Church cleaned up this practice.

In 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions.

But remember because everyone in purgatory is already on their way to heaven, indulgences do not get you into heaven. They just make purgation easier.

I guess if you did not believe in purgatory then there would be no reason to worry about indulgences.

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

It's telling you that you are released from the punishment associated with the sin/sins you have commited. Catholic theology, and the bible, teaches that although are sins are forgiven through Christ we still have to pay their consequences. If our sins were not forgiven we would all end up in hell, end of story. But you have to remember that sin puts a "separation" between us and God, and suffering, united with the suffering of Christ on the cross, is what eliminates that "separation." If Jesus had not died on the cross this "cleansing" would not even be possible.

One way to think of it would be like when you get a stain on your shirt. You can't just cover the stain up with another piece of fabric, you actually have to remove it. Jesus provides the detergent. Applying the detergent may be painful, but without it your shirt is ruined for good, but after you use it you're clean. (I just made this example up off the top of my head!!!....I know it's bad, but I think you get the idea.)

The practice of indulgences still exists, just not like it did in the past (although this practice in the past is greatly exaggerated). In other words, you can't buy an indulgence. Usually an indulgence consists of saying certain prayers for a certain amount of days, usually during a specific period of time. This is a testament to the mercy of God.

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9411fea1sb4.asp

Answer 5

There are two types of punishment involved with sin - temporal and eternal. The eternal punishment for sin is damnation. Jesus paid that price on the cross. Temporal punishment is in reference to the consequences of sin that we have to deal with in this life.

A poor analogy would be if I threw a rock through your window. I admit to you that I threw the rock and ask for your forgiveness. You forgive me and we are friends. That takes care of one issue (eternal consequences), but the window is still broken. My actions have caused more than harm to our friendship. Part of putting things right between me and you is fixing that window. When I fix that window, everything will be as it was before.

Indulgences are received for acts f devotion or charity such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Indulgences we abused centuries ago because the Church was allowing people to contribute money to the Church charities WITHOUT seeking forgiveness through the sacrament of confession. People got the impression that you could pay your way to forgiveness. People may have been taking care of the temporal punishment, but not the eternal punishment.

A person can receive indulgences today. It is important to note than an indulgence is not the forgiveness of a sin. You cannot donate money and be forgiven. Forgivenss of sins only happens through contrition, confession, and penance.

Answer 6

Well I'm not sure if this is what you're referring too but Indulgences were privileges sold by the church that allowed people "remission" or forgiveness from their wrongdoings without having to be punished. The practise of this dyed out as people became more informed and recognized the corrupt nature of this practise. I believe such sales were abolished with the Edict of Worms in 1521.

Answer 7

Yes, if you mean what I think you mean. Catholic doctrine teaches that even people who make it to heaven have to be purified and work off their sins before they can enter heaven. They serve this time in a hell-like limbo/waiting room known as purgatory. An indulgence was a contract that was sold or given in response to a donation or major contribution to the church that promised time off in purgatory. Indulgences have no basis in the Bible and are no longer part of the Catholic faith.

Answer 8

The answer can be found in Paul VI's INDULGENTIARUM DOCTRINA:
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"It is a divinely revealed truth that sins bring punishments inflicted by God's sanctity and justice. These must be expiated either on this earth through the sorrows, miseries and calamities of this life and above all through death,[3] or else in the life beyond through fire and torments or "purifying" punishments.[4] Therefore it has always been the conviction of the faithful that the paths of evil are fraught with many stumbling blocks and bring adversities, bitterness and harm to those who follow them.[5]"

These punishments are imposed by the just and merciful judgment of God for the purification of souls, the defense of the sanctity of the moral order and the restoration of the glory of God to its full majesty. Every sin in fact causes a perturbation in the universal order established by God in His ineffable wisdom and infinite charity, and the destruction of immense values with respect to the sinner himself and to the human community. Christians throughout history have always regarded sin not only as a transgression of divine law but also—though not always in a direct and evident way—as contempt for or disregard of the friendship between God and man,[6] just as they have regarded it as a real and unfathomable offense against God and indeed an ungrateful rejection of the love of God shown us through Jesus Christ, who called His disciples friends and not servants.[7]

3. It is therefore necessary for the full remission and—as it is called—reparation of sins not only that friendship with God be reestablished by a sincere conversion of the mind and amends made for the offense against His wisdom and goodness, but also that all the personal as well as social values and those of the universal order itself, which have been diminished or destroyed by sin, be fully reintegrated whether through voluntary reparation which will involve punishment or through acceptance of the punishments established by the just and most holy wisdom of God, from which there will shine forth throughout the world the sanctity and the splendor of His glory. The very existence and the gravity of the punishment enable us to understand the foolishness and malice of sin and its harmful consequences.

That punishment or the vestiges of sin may remain to be expiated or cleansed and that they in fact frequently do even after the remission of guilt[8] is clearly demonstrated by the doctrine on purgatory. In purgatory, in fact, the souls of those "who died in the charity of God and truly repentant, but before satisfying with worthy fruits of penance for sins committed and for omissions"[9] are cleansed after death with purgatorial punishments. This is also clearly evidenced in the liturgical prayers with which the Christian community admitted to Holy Communion has addressed God since most ancient times: "that we, who are justly subjected to afflictions because of our sins, may be mercifully set free from them for the glory of thy name."[10]
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So yes, you can have sincere repentance yet expiation may still be needed. So indulgences are there to help expiate the punishment due to our personal sins. You will see this document in many Catholic prayer books and I think it is the main source of information on indulgences as understood today. For more information you might want to read the whole document. It also explains partial and plenary indulgences. And several New Testament references are included. I include some of the footnotes 3-10 below which link to the quote I gave you. I think I ran out of space on the server so I cut back a few.

You can also do things like righting the wrong you did. Like if you steal, you should pay back those you stole from. This is a type of reparation. Also, there is an offence to the church when you sin, and by prayer and other acts, you can make reparation. In the case of stealing, most priests in cofession will instruct you to pay back those you stole from (if at all possible). Just to be clear, however, you cannot make financial contributions to the church for an indulgence.

Answer 9

Indulgences are no longer a part of the Catholic faith; you're citing a practice from centuries ago that has since be dropped because of its dubious nature.

Answer 10

I am not sure of this answer. But I look forward to hearing what is said.